The 5th annual open big bore rifle handgun championship - 2001, will be conducted by the Sports Shooting Association (SSA) which is affiliated to the National Rifle Association (NRA), from September 21 to 23 at the SL Army 1000 yard shooting range Panaluwa. Chandrananda de Silva, secretary, Ministry of Defence, will be the chief guest.

The NRA which was earlier known as the Ceylon Rifle Association (CRA), is one of the oldest sports bodies in Sri Lanka and from its inception in 1875, big bore rifle and handgun competitions were conducted for nearly 100 years. The rifle used then was the Old War horse, Lee Enfield and the handgun used was the 455 Webly revolver.

Unfortunately, big bore rifle shooting in Sri Lanka was discontinued in the early 1970s, thus depriving the younger generation of the unique experience of competitively shooting with a big bore rifle at long range. In 1997, the SSA, with the encouragement and support given by its president, Lt. Gen. Denis Perera and its vice president, Maj. Gen Asoka Jayawardhana, revived the old traditions of the CRA by organizing a big bore rifle handgun event after a lapse of nearly 30 years and has continued to do so for the 5th consecutive year.

This year’s competition will consist of three stages. On the first day, (today), it will be a big bore rifle metallic silhouette shoot up to 400 yards. On the second day, it will be a practical rifle shoot up to 300 yards and on the thirrd day, it will be a standard 300 yard shooting discipline which is regularly conducted in the UK and a centre-fire handgun metallic shoot up to 125 yards. The awards ceremony will follow at 1630 hrs in the main pavilion.

Incidentally, the last time Sri Lanka participated in an international big bore rifle was in the Australasian 3 Gun Championship held in 1993, in New Zealand, where the national team, coached and captained by Sarath de Zoysa, emerged as the champion team, mainly due to their excellent performance in the big bore rifle stages.

The match Officials for this year’s meet will be -
Match Director: - Sarath de Zoysa
Range Master:- Janaka Wickramasurendra
Chief Range Officers:- Dr. Jayaraj Nanayakkara and ASP Sunil Guruge

Arbitration Committee:- Elmore Rodrigo (Chairman), Sumith Liyanage (Rtd, DIG), Lt. Col. Kenneth Edema (subject to approval by SL Army and Shirantha Peiris.